Early October
Alone
Hermione was missing.
Severus had first assumed she was held up at work when she didn't come home that evening, or that she was out with some friends. She usually let him know if she went out, but perhaps she'd forgotten. The stillness felt wrong, somehow, and Crookshanks and Menace were both restless. He stayed up longer than he should have before finally relenting and going to bed alone, feeling oddly bereft, the bed too large and too cold.
She wasn't back the next morning. He sent off a short question in the notebook, not wanting to sound too controlling, and then busied himself at Malfoy Manor with some brews for the Dark Lord. He had managed to secure a meeting with St Mungo's a few days later to discuss a future collaboration and needed to brew some samples for them to assess.
She wasn't back that evening either and there was no response in the notebook. Had she left him? Crookshanks meowed impatiently at him, weaving around his legs and twitching his tail as if to tell Severus not to be stupid. Right. She'd never leave the ugly half-Kneazle behind. Feeling slightly foolish and perhaps wanting to apologise to the animal for calling him ugly, Severus bent down to pet him and then went to fill his food bowl. Menace cawed at him too from the perch that was now set up by the window in the sitting room, but the bird didn't have any letter for him.
When the Goblins contacted him the following morning to let him know Hermione hadn't shown up for work he began to worry for real. What had happened to her?
He started backtracking. He had been called to the rather disastrous Diagon Alley raid but spent most of it trying to protect Slug & Jiggers from his supposed brothers. After all, who would provide ingredients to the Dark Lord's potions if the best supplier was destroyed? Hermione wasn't supposed to be there and he'd been quite upset upon hearing she'd been in the thick of it, thinking about all the things that could have happened to her. The outcome was almost perfect though with Bellatrix behind bars and a few others neutralised. She'd been distracted that evening and had left early in the morning saying she thought she had an idea. She had mentioned the Prewetts too. Perhaps they would be a suitable starting point.
Severus pulled on his travel cloak and made his way to the Alley. The destruction from the raid was still evident, with a few shops boarded up and others busy cleaning up debris and broken goods while being closed for business. The streets were bustling with people anyway, apparently the outcome of the raid hadn't scared people off. The articles in the Prophet had helped too, making people indignant and upset at the right people instead of afraid and worried.
The Prewetts had some kind of office at the far end of the Alley which he'd noticed when going on errands for Pyrites during his Apprenticeship. Making sure no one was paying attention to him he tapped the knocker and cast a discreet charm to check for wards. There were a few nasty ones woven into the door frame, but mostly aimed at people with bad intentions and for some reason also people with red hair. Well, he was in the clear there, at least.
"Yes?" one red-headed wizard asked, opening the door a bit.
"You're Prewett?"
"Aye, what's it to you?"
Severus glowered at the man. "I need to know where Hermione went. She didn't come home."
The wizard gestured at him to come inside, shutting the door behind him. "Hermione? I haven't seen her since the raid, I've been with my brother at St Mungo's. Tell me again who are you? Are you with her?"
"Severus. Snape."
The man's eyebrows hitched. "Snape? Are you her wizard? She's mentioned your name."
Severus nodded. Her wizard. Yes, that sounded right. "Do you know anything? I haven't heard from her since the day before yesterday. The morning after the raid."
The red-headed wizard sighed and rubbed the side of his nose. He looked tired with a bit of stubble already and clothes that looked slept in. He gestured at Severus to follow and moved stiffly to what turned out to be a combined office and sitting room, with a magical kettle on a shelf nearby. With a flick of his wand the kettle started to boil again.
"Sorry, my brother… Fabian was hurt during the raid. I've spent the night at St Mungo's. I'm Gideon, by the way." He Levitated two mugs from an open shelf and flicked two tea bags in them.
Severus cleared his throat. "Right. Severus, as I said. Hermione is my… girlfriend."
Girlfriend. Odd word, but it was the best he could do. He accepted the cup and cautiously sat down in the leather armchair facing the window. He couldn't detect any traces of hexes, poison or other traps anywhere so hopefully the other wizard wasn't out to snare him.
Gideon flopped down on the couch opposite and started telling him about the raid. Severus asked a few clarifying questions but mainly let the other man speak. From his retelling it seemed Hermione had been much more involved than what she'd let on when they discussed it later that evening, that she'd taken out several Death Eaters and been instrumental in capturing Bellatrix. The Aurors had at least been quick to respond this time, coming in to sort out the mess and apprehend those that had not yet fled. Severus himself had needed to hide in Slug and Jiggers storeroom for a while, quickly discarding the mask and then making it out the back to blend in with the crowd.
"The Aurors arrived and then I left with Fabian. I'm sorry, I didn't know she was missing."
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. What a mess. What had she been up to? He sighed and rose to leave. "I need to find her, what if she's hurt?"
Gideon rose stiffly, holding onto the back of the couch for support. "Snape? Keep me informed, will you? We need to stick together, those of us that are on her side in this. If I hear anything I'll let you know, I promise you that."
Severus nodded and dug up a vial from an inner pocket of his cloak. "Here. You look like you could use this."
"What is it?"
"Healing potion."
"Thanks." Prewett tossed it back without further inspection, grimacing at the taste. "Didn't have time to get checked out after the raid and then it sort of didn't feel relevant."
Severus made it back to Spinner's End and slumped down on the couch. Crookshanks meowed at him from the door to the kitchen.
"No idea where she is," he muttered and went to fill the feline's food bowl. "Do you know anything? Is she safe?"
But the orange half-Kneazle only focused on his food, his tail flicking back and forth as he ate. Menace cawed at him from the back of a kitchen chair, sounding almost accusatory.
Severus went back to the couch and tried to think, to figure out if she'd left any kind of clues behind. Wanting to pursue every angle he even pulled out her Pensieve and extracted the memory of the raid. It didn't yield anything more of value but he did spot her briefly, flanked by the Prewetts, heading down the street. It made his heart ache to see her fighting next to them, as fierce as ever but not by his side.
He continued watching his memories of that evening, with her sitting in the dark on the couch as he made it back home, staring at nothing. She'd looked completely lost. He had merely held her, hoping it would be enough for whatever was troubling her. It had seemed to work. She'd taken out the notebook she always wrote in and made an entry in it while he went to the kitchen to make them both some tea. Severus held his breath, remaining near the table while his memory self put the kettle on, and he could actually make out the words "Narcissa" and "Hufflepuff Cup". He had no idea if the entry was related to the raid or not, but considering he didn't have any other leads he figured it was worth a try.
He pulled out of the Pensieve and went to locate his bird, who was preening himself perched on a kitchen chair.
"Menace? We need to find Hermione, can you come along?"
He scribbled a note on a loose piece of paper and held out his arm for Menace who hopped on ungracefully and tried to preen his hair in response, and Apparated to the Malfoy gates. He didn't want to spend more time inside the wards than necessary, even if he went there to brew regularly. Lord Malfoy hadn't noticed anything yet but it was only a matter of time.
Menace cawed in protest once they had arrived. The bird didn't like Apparition, preferring to use his own wings.
"Sorry, it was the fastest way. Can you get that to Narcissa? I need to talk to her, she might know something."
The bird pecked him on the arm in protest but flew off, circling the gates once before heading for Narcissa's wing. Severus could only hope she was in.
Ten minutes later she came striding down the path, Menace flying loops around her. The witch didn't spare any time for social niceties. He was almost impressed, he'd never seen her act this brusquely.
"Hermione's missing? What happened?"
"I have no idea, did you meet with her?"
Narcissa nodded. "Have you been to Gringotts?"
He shook his head. He hadn't thought about that angle.
"No? Let's go then."
They Apparated to the designated arrival point in Diagon Alley and made their way down the street.
It was odd to walk alongside Narcissa Black Malfoy, as if he was a respectable member of society. Shopkeepers nodded at her and smiled. She set a brisk pace and waved off several acquaintances along the way, offering breezy reassurances that she'd be in touch soon and that they would of course see her and Lucius at the upcoming ball. It was strange to watch. Most of them disregarded his presence but he received a few tentative nods, as if he too was almost acceptable by proxy.
Narcissa entered the bank as if she owned it. Had it been any other kind of institution, he might have believed it. The goblins nodded at her as she strode up to a clerk who looked up from the heap of Galleons he was counting, raised an index finger at them and kept counting. Severus could appreciate professionalism when he saw it, but it was highly annoying to be asked to wait. He needed answers, and he needed Hermione.
When the goblin was done, the heap of Galleons shuffled into a bucket and sent off on a small cart that seemed to know where it was supposed to go, the goblin looked at them again. "Yes?"
"Tell Gargnak we need to see him."
The clerk pulled a silk cord on a panel behind him, and waited. After exchanging a few words in a brass tube on his desk he nodded at them. "Follow me."
The goblin led them through the bank's inner sections, until they reached Gargnak's office. Severus recognised the room from when he'd been there with Hermione, with the uncomfortable chairs and the sour goblin behind the desk, the piles of books and parchment on the desk threatening to spill over at any moment. There weren't any windows, something Severus suspected was by design. The old Goblin sat behind his desk, looking sour as ever.
He glowered at Severus, not bothering to acknowledge Narcissa. "Have you lost Granger, Snape?"
Severus glared back. "I think you lost her. I know she was here but she never made it back home."
Gargnak suddenly looked serious. "If that is so, perhaps her work can give us a clue."
He hopped down and led them to her office up several flights of stairs. Hermione's room was larger than Severus had expected, with large windows overlooking the busy streets below. She had whiteboards and notice boards all over the room, riddled with various Arithmantic equations, post-it notes and stray pieces of paper. A familiar-looking bag studded with white beads lay haphazardly on a visitor's chair.
"Her bag is here," Severus called. "She'd never have left without her bag if she meant to go somewhere."
"The goblet," Narcissa said urgently. "We fetched a goblet from Bellatrix' vault. It needs to be neutralised."
Narcissa pulled at something and a large white silk bag materialised on her hip. She opened it carefully, showing a golden goblet lodged inside. It felt off somehow, evil and sinister, similar to the other Horcruxes Severus had seen.
"Don't touch it!" he cautioned, causing Narcissa to raise a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him.
Gargnak appeared to think for a moment before he hopped down from the chair. "We can do that here. Come along."
He guided them to a cart. A younger goblin dressed in protective gear scrambled up in the cart with a set of odd-looking metal instruments that looked like two bells linked with a handle, and after a quick and mostly one-sided conversation in Gobbledegook they were off.
They hurtled down, deep into the bowels of the bank where the fancy Pure-blood vaults were located. Severus held on tight, impressed by the way Narcissa sat without grasping onto the cart's railings.
She noticed him looking at her and raised an eyebrow. "Sticking charm," she mouthed at him. Her wand flicked out of her sleeve and she cast one on him, silently. The charm fastened him solidly in place, making the rest of the ride a lot more comfortable. He didn't mind the carts so much, not that he'd had much opportunity to use them, but he didn't fancy falling off and having to walk all the way up.
The cart stopped abruptly and Severus was again grateful for the sticking charm. The younger goblin started clanging his bells while Gargnak pulled out a lantern and gestured at them to follow. Narcissa put up a Lumos prompting Severus to do the same as they headed further into a tunnel dug straight into the bedrock.
Something snorted up ahead. A low grumbling noise could be heard, and there was a low flickering light ahead of them. Severus tensed and started cataloguing shield spells. A standard Protego would take care of falling rocks and lesser attacks but wouldn't be sufficient against stronger attacks, and a more advanced shield would be difficult to maintain for too long especially if he had to cover Narcissa as well. He suspected Lucius would be highly annoyed if his wife disappeared in the tunnels of Gringotts.
The tunnel opened up into a vast cavern. Rays of pale sunlight shone from high above their heads, illuminating swirling dust particles and what appeared to be steam coming from below. When he looked down, however, he thought his heart would stop. A huge, dull grey dragon lay there, the steam coming from its nostrils. It appeared to be sleeping, but not for long. The younger goblin shouted at it, clanging his bells again. Gargnak turned to Narcissa and asked her for the Cup. Despite Gargnak's heavy leather gloves the Cup hissed in his grasp, thin wisps of smoke rising from the gloves where the Cup touched leather.
It woke up with a dull roar that might or might not have been a yawn, and belched a small amount of fire in their direction. It took a few steps backwards in response to the clanging noise but roared again when it hit the back wall.
Gargnak yelled something in Gobbledegook to the young goblin who nodded in response.
"Yin! Tan! Tetra!" the younger goblin chanted. On the last count he clanged both sets of instruments together, the sound reverberating through the cavern.
The dragon roared in response and belched a large flame in their direction. Rather unceremoniously, Gargnak tossed the Cup into the fire. A large black cloud erupted from it, a skull and snake symbol visible for half a second before it too perished in the magical flames. The dragon snorted and belched another round of flames on the offending object, as if daring the thing to oppose it. When the fire cleared there wasn't anything left of it other than a puddle of gold and some gems on the cavern floor. The dragon sniffed it and sneezed, looking rather offended. Severus hoped it wouldn't take out a potentially upset stomach on them.
The young goblin fetched a frozen goat carcass from the cart and tossed it to the dragon, which belched another round of flames over the meat as if to cook it before swallowing it whole. They all got back into the cart and the young goblin pulled another set of levers to make it move again for the laborious and notably slower trek back up to the surface.
"I'll talk to Lucius, we'll find her soon," Narcissa said quietly just before they disembarked the cart.
Severus nodded. He had plans to make, people to contact. She just had to be okay, or his heart would implode.
~oo~oo~oo~oo~
Despite Hermione's absence life continued on. There was no trace of her whatsoever and after the first few days it was obvious she hadn't left voluntarily. Someone must have abducted her, and the most likely suspects were among the Death Eaters. They weren't talking, however. He had absolutely no leads and could do nothing but keep his eyes and ears open and hope she was still alive and reasonably unharmed. There was no other option. He went to bed alone and made sandwiches alone, whenever he remembered to eat and had something actually edible in the cupboards, and misery was slowly settling around him like a heavy woollen blanket, blocking out all that had ever been good. Crookshanks was definitely unhappy with him. Severus had tried to explain that it wasn't his fault the cat's mistress had gone missing, but the ugly orange half-Kneazle only sniffed at him and set about demonstrably cleaning his arse on Severus' pillow, so he wisely backed off. Menace was also unhappy but seemed to want to comfort Severus by bringing him food. It took some arguing to get the bird to agree to drop them in a bucket in the kitchen instead of in his bed, but at least he could use some of the bugs in his potions.
Having secured the brewing contract with St Mungo's he suddenly had a lot to do again. They wanted bulk brews to start with, the standard Pain Relief and Healing and Calming draughts anyone could do with a decent cauldron and a bit of discipline. Not wanting to risk detection at Malfoy Manor and with Hermione gone, he set up a makeshift laboratory in the garden shack. If she made it back, he didn't want to be too far away. A proper basement would be better but he didn't have the knowledge to create one from nothing, not if he wanted to leave the house standing.
Gideon got him in contact with a few other Order members, including Caradoc Dearborn and the Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. None of them were of much use when it came to figuring out where Hermione might be kept but he tried to keep them informed of the Death Eaters' antics whenever he heard anything. He went through her bag but she'd warded it and the notebooks so thoroughly he couldn't find much without risking setting off a ward that would probably render the whole thing unusable, or worse. The Death Eaters were not dropping any hints either. Reg promised to keep his ears open for any signs, but none of the others were talking.
~oo~oo~oo~oo~
Two weeks after Hermione's disappearance his wards alerted him to two magical visitors without ill intent. He cursed under his breath and put the current batches of potions in stasis before hurrying to the front door, wand ready.
Lucius and Narcissa entered, looking completely out of place in his small sitting room. Hermione's arrival had made it look like a home, not a complete dump, but it was still a far cry from the Manor.
"What are you doing here?"
Narcissa looked him over. "You need to take care of yourself. Hermione wouldn't want to see you like this."
"Go take a shower, if this place has indoor plumbing," Lucius said with a sniff. "Or if you want to come to the Manor for a shower where we have proper amenities. You reek."
Grumbling, mainly out of principle, Severus went upstairs to shower and change, hoping the Malfoys wouldn't do too much damage to the place meanwhile. When he made it back down again, in fresh clothes and wet hair, the Malfoys were standing roughly where he'd left them.
"You're coming with us," Narcissa said in that tone of hers. "We cannot set up an adequate meal… here."
"I need to stay if she returns," Severus protested.
"Only for a few hours," Lucius said. "You know you won't find her from here."
As usual, there was no point in protesting when Narcissa had made up her mind, and Severus even had to admit Lucius had a point. They made it back to Malfoy Manor, to Narcissa's wing where the House-Elves had already prepared dinner.
Over a three-course meal consisting of way too complicated dishes Severus couldn't name Narcissa and Lucius outlined what they'd done so far. They had arranged several meetings, dinners and even an intimate ball with very select attendees, to try to figure out where Hermione might be. Unfortunately they hadn't had more success than Severus. There was no trace of her anywhere.
Narcissa managed to talk him into accepting help, ordering one of the Manor's elves to send him food daily and keeping the place clean. That prompted him to ask if they knew anyone who could add a basement level to the house for brewing, which Narcissa immediately agreed to. Apparently some of the other elves in the Manor were proficient in house construction, and happy to be of use.
He was slightly heartened by their support when he made it back home, but the empty spot in his bed still made his heart ache.
~oo~oo~oo~oo~
He was in the middle of brewing a batch of Mood-Lifting Potion for St Mungo's a few days later when the Mark on his arm burned again. The sudden pain almost made him botch the stirring count but he pushed through the pain to save it and put it in stasis. Making the Dark Lord wait was not advisable. He was still working from the garden shack but construction of his potions basement was well under way, overseen by Narcissa. Hurriedly he fetched the cloak and mask and let the pull of the Mark take him away.
The trip was oddly short and Severus' heart sank when he saw where he ended up. They were back in Cokeworth, in the clearing right by the butcher's. No time to warn anyone, no way to contact the Order. At least Hermione wouldn't be there, so no risk of putting her in more danger, he thought to himself and pulled the hood up a bit further.
Someone was giving orders but Severus was too far away to clearly hear anything. There was a large group of Death Eaters around him, all eager for blood. They cheered when the one in charge let them loose, pointing towards the posh end of town. Someone lobbed a Bombarda at a nearby shop window and another set off an Incendio at a couple of parked cars. Severus watched them run ahead, taking a deep breath and trying to think of a plan.
"Hey, Snape, you live in this dump?" Mulciber Junior asked, poking his shoulder.
"Shut up."
He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders, and set off.
The Death Eaters were howling as they ran through the town, torching buildings left and right. It was madness, utter madness. He could only hope that the wards would hold if the tide turned his way. The flow of Death Eaters weren't heading in that direction yet, at least.
The local thugs were out. They tried to look scary but scampered pretty quickly once they realised what they were up against. The grocer's went up in flames, as did several cars and the bakery. Too bad, Severus had always liked the owner who hadn't minded him hanging out by the hot ovens in the cold winters and even gave him old loaves in exchange for help with cleaning.
Severus finally made it to the Evans' street. The house was already ablaze, along with the adjoining neighbour's house and a large part of the neighbourhood. Had they made it out? He could only hope so.
"Why were we sent here?" Severus asked Mulciber who happened to be nearby. "Any clue?"
"Didn't you hear? It was something to do with a prophecy. Dunno what these Muggles had to do with it though, they were old. Didn't fight much at all before we killed 'em. What's the fun in that?"
Severus felt a chill run through him. This wasn't what he'd had in mind when he had hinted to the Dark Lord that there was more to the prophecy, that Wormtail knew more than he let on. Was all of this his fault, then, for not stopping Wormtail before he could blab to the Dark Lord?
~oo~oo~oo~oo~
The Dark Lord wasn't done with them even with half of Cokeworth burnt to cinders. The Mark flared again and at least half the Death Eater crowd hissed in pain and Disapparated.
They ended up in front of Rowle House. Severus tried to empty his mind as he strode after the others up the gravel path to the house, pushing everything he cared for behind layers of devotion and blood lust. The location indicated this wouldn't be a fancy gathering or a celebration, but he hoped it wouldn't hurt too badly. At least for his own sake, he didn't much care if the others were hurt.
Unfortunately his gut feeling was correct. The Dark Lord was seated in a throne-like chair beside the large fireplace, radiating fury cold enough to cancel out the heat from the fire. He was flanked by Rowle Senior, Dolohov and Wormtail, making Severus wonder where the Lestranges were. The Malfoys weren't there either, neither the Lord nor Lucius.
"Regulus, my son. Come closer." The Dark Lord sounded calm, eerily so.
Severus hadn't seen Regulus around at all during the raid, but perhaps his friend had been sent to another area. He pushed back all emotion behind his Occlumency shields. If Regulus… No, he couldn't think about it. He also tried to bury any and all emotional connection to Regulus, just in case, all their their time in the Slytherin dorms and pub nights, leaving resentment over Reg trying to score with Hermione and the way he'd felt when seeing them together at the Shafiq summer ball, months ago. The raids, the Horcrux potion, his interactions with the Prewetts and the Order, all buried deep inside his mind.
Regulus didn't falter. With his back straight he went to stand in front of the Dark Lord's throne-like chair, awaiting his doom for whatever heinous act the Dark Lord had decided he was guilty of. The Dark Lord beckoned him even closer and gestured at him to get down on his knees. He leaned forward, his eyes fixed at Regulus' face, undoubtedly rifling through his mind like an Erumpent in an apothecary. The rest of the room held its breath, everyone probably relieved it wasn't them up there by the Dark Lord.
Without warning the silence was shattered as the Dark Lord rose.
"Crucio!"
Regulus screamed, every muscle in his body twitching, his legs and arms twisted in what seemed like very uncomfortable positions.
The Dark Lord leaned forward in his chair, his wand still pointing at Regulus. "You think you can deceive me, do you? You claim to be loyal to me, but then you spill your guts to that reporter? I know you met with her!"
Regulus rose slowly. "My Lord, no I can explain! I didn't tell her about the raids! She only asked about my marriage! She wanted information about the wedding!"
"Crucio!"
It went on forever, or so it felt. Severus wanted to look away, to hide, but he felt he owed his friend as much. Reg fell again, losing control of his bladder. A wet spot appeared on the floor.
"My Lord, please!"
Lord Black threw himself in between the Dark Lord and his son, catching the tail end of the Cruciatus before the Dark Lord ended the spell.
He rose on shaky legs and immediately prostrated himself again. "This is my fault, my Lord. Please."
The Dark Lord looked down at him, wand still at the ready. "Do continue, Orion. I thought you had your sons better under control. Pardon me, your remaining son. Perhaps we should do something about that."
"I allowed him to stay at the Prophet despite my misgivings, my Lord. If he is behind the articles, I will ensure he is punished. Please, my Lord, let me handle it. On my honour as a Black."
The Dark Lord grasped Lord Black's chin, staring into his eyes. The old wizard stiffened, a groan escaping his lips, hands clenching his robes as the Dark Lord rifled through his memories.
Finally he was released.
"Crucio!"
Black Senior fell, and then Black Junior again. Severus winced inwardly, it wasn't often the Dark Lord turned to physical punishment of the older Death Eaters or Knights. They wouldn't stand for it, and the Dark Lord needed their support and money for his campaigns.
Finally the spell was broken. Two broken Blacks hobbled out of the room, their clothes soiled with blood and other fluids. None of the others looked directly at them, as if their fate was contagious.
It didn't help, though. The Dark Lord looked around the room again while someone cleaned up the floor with a quick Scourgify.
"Severus. Come closer." His voice was deceptively mild, as if the previous round of torture had never happened.
Blank, calm lake filling his mind. Severus bowed his head and stepped in front of the Dark Lord.
"You didn't tell me Regulus was talking to that reporter. Although he denied it, he was present on all raids she wrote about. He was lucky his father was here today. I was under the impression you were friends?"
Severus fell to his knees, lowering his head. He touched the hem of the Dark Lord's robes. Blank lake, nothing stirring in the waters. Only this remained, this self-appointed Lord he was to serve.
"I'm sorry for failing you, my Lord. I haven't spoken to him much, I've been so busy with work and brewing for you. I will keep you informed, my Lord."
The Dark Lord's eyes pierced his, opening his mind wide. There was no way to block it or to figure out what he wanted to see. The Dark Lord searched for interaction with Regulus but also looked at his memories of the raids, trying to discover any and all connection to the articles in the Prophet. Severus tried to rush ahead, to push the inconsequential details to the foreground and to bury the dismay and the people he'd helped, such as Caradoc and a few bystanders. The Dark Lord was powerful, taking what he wanted without mercy. He yanked on a strand of a memory of Hermione, looking at their interactions at Spinner's End, cooking together, reading in the sitting room, a passionate embrace in bed. Finally he withdrew, leaving Severus in a rumpled heap on the floor, panting but alive.
"Your girlfriend… Did you know she's spent a fair amount of time with your supposed friend? She was in Lord Black's memories too. Are you sure about her?"
Severus bowed his head. "My Lord, she knows nothing of value."
The Dark Lord tilted his head. "Let us hope you are right, for your sake. I think you need a reminder, however."
Severus braced himself. Calm, lake, stillness.
"Crucio!"
Severus lost track of time, of anything but pain, but somewhere deep inside his own mind he was ecstatic. He'd done it, he'd protected their secrets. She was safe from accusations. He was, well, at least alive.
~oo~oo~oo~oo~
Later that evening Severus finally stumbled back home, reeking of smoke and pain, his own and other people's. He didn't even have energy left to worry about Reg. The Dark Lord had told him to keep track of his friend, and to report anything untoward.
He went upstairs and turned on the shower, shedding the Death Eater robes on the stairs. If he never saw them again it would be too soon.
